AI Permeation: How Far Does Artificial Intelligence Go?

Published: 04 December 2018

A few years ago, artificial intelligence was a neat idea that would likely take a long time to come to fruition. A few years before that, it was only something you'd see in a sci-fi movie. Now, AI is a part of everyday life and it only continues to become more advanced as experts refine how AI functions based on user feedback. Artificial intelligence goes far beyond your Google Home or Amazon Alexa — it has permeated to nearly every sector, from finance to healthcare.

NurseBots and Virtual Doctors in Healthcare

Artificial intelligence has gone beyond helping healthcare practices manage patient records. Now, you can get a NurseBot or Virtual Doctor directly to your home via your computer or smartphone. Sensely's virtual healthcare app is available on both Android and iOS devices, and it features a virtual nurse named Molly. Molly has features like speech recognition, dynamically generated speech, a text chat mode, data and device integration, and it can receive images and video. Molly also offers remote monitoring via Bluetooth technology for patients with congestive heart failure and COPD.

Atomwise is an artificial-intelligence application that uses deep learning to help pharmaceutical companies discover new medications faster than ever before. The program screens between 10 and 20 million molecules a day and intelligently builds new compounds to create medications to help fight serious conditions like Ebola and multiple sclerosis.

AI Accountants on Your Smartphone

Not only can you get an intelligent nurse on your smartphone, you can also install a virtual accountant. Banking chatbots that connect to your accounts can tell you how much money is in your account, whether or not you're on budget, and they can make recommendations to modify your spending habits. Cleoand Plumare available on Facebook messenger, making it feel as though you're simply chatting with a friend.

Large banks like Bank of America, American Express and Capital One are also adopting artificial intelligence and creating their own branded chatbots that offer the same or similar capabilities as independently operated programs. Stocks and investments are where AI in the finance industry shines the most, collecting data and analyzing it to gain insight on profit and loss. Then something incredible happens — the intelligence is able to strategize live trades that are most likely to be successful based on intelligent algorithmic reading.

Behavioral Targeting in Marketing

Artificial intelligence in marketing is not a new concept, but it's growing and evolving to create targeted ads that are more accurately in tune with what customers are looking for than ever before. AI can gather data from the web pages a user visits, their activities online, what they watch, what they read and more to ensure that they receive only the most applicable ads for them. This type of advertising is why you see ads on Facebook for things you've asked Amazon Alexa about.

Self-Driving Vehicles

While not exactly something you'd see in Knight Rider, self-driving vehicles truly aren't far away and it's hard to believe. Tesla announced in the fall of 2016 that all of its new vehicles would come equipped with hardware necessary for automated driving, while popular ride-sharing company Uber has said it will have a fleet of self-driving SUVs on the streets by 2021.

Other vehicle manufacturers are a little more wary of completely self-driving vehicles, but they continue to add intelligent capabilities to their cars, trucks and vans. Vehicles can now alert you to the presence of a pedestrian or a bicyclist, help you avoid collisions and brake automatically.

Artificial intelligence is everywhere and it's quickly growing to not only make everyday life easier for individuals, but also to change the way markets operate from the ground up. No longer is AI something neat but unattainable — it's currently in use and getting smarter every day. The embracing of artificial intelligence will lead to the most innovative products and applications ever seen, and it's an exciting prospect. Unfamiliar with AI? Try out some of the above mentioned applications and get a feel for why AI is going to truly change the world.